THANK YOU FOR A FRUITFUL HARVEST

Dear Newcomers, Friends, and Supporters,

Our 2022 Annual KWANZAA CELEBRATION at the FRUIT OF LABOR WORLD CULTURAL CENTER and other Kwanzaa celebrations throughout the Triangle Area and NC were marked with joy, song, music, dance, fellowship, and historical reflections on our Black African peoples' fruitful harvests and longtime cultural traditions.

UJAMAA (Cooperative Economics), KWANZAA’s 4th-day principle, was highlighted and celebrated at the intimate FOLWCC Kwanzaa gathering. FOLWCC lead volunteer staff, Angaza Samora Laughinghouse, opened by stating that we, as Black African-Americans, need to hold up, research, read, study, celebrate and participate in our own traditional holidays. Kwanzaa ...first fruits of the harvest; "Juneteenth ...Black Freedom Day;" First Night"; birthdays of Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and Dr. ML King Jr.'s Birthday; International Working Women's and Black History months are examples of celebrations in which our community should be engaged. 

Participants present stated or agreed that the Cooperative Economics of Ujamaa did not mean Black Capitalism was a remedy to our people's historic and continued oppression. Discussion included how capitalism and white supremacy, with their systematic socializing traditions and lies about our peoples’ true history, are critical components of Black and all people of color’s oppression. Those present were encouraged to read the book “Uhuru and Ujamaa (Freedom and Socialism)” written by African Ghanaian freedom fighter and liberator Osagefo Kwame Nkrumah for further study. 

FOLWCC Co-Director Nathanette Mayo and lead volunteer staff chef, Abasi Brown, shared the Center's annual report (read it *here * in full in this newsletter edition) and all that was "harvested" with the annual GOOD NEWS about family, community, and our peoples’ social justice resistance, advances, victories, and challenges in 2023! 

As we enter a new 2023 year, we express our deepest gratitude for your sustained support and engagement in this social justice center's music, artful forums, and cultural work over the years. We look forward to YOUR HELP PLANNING, YOUR ENGAGEMENT, AND PARTICIPATION as we continue to do this work! We know how critical a sustained artistic, musical, and cultural movement is to our collective vision of creating a better, just and empowering society. We thank you for all the ways in which you have contributed! You have all played a critical role in advancing this CENTER and its work, and we are grateful to work alongside you. 

Let's work together in 2023! Working ....wishing for a GREAT HARVEST in 2023...

"SOWING SEEDS OF INSPIRATION, ENGAGEMENT, AND LIBERATION"...

Elder Angaza Sababu Laughinghouse. Nathanette Mayo, Tiffany Debnam,

Angaza Samora Laughinghouse, Chef Abasi Brown, Greg Moss, and Manzoor Cheema 

Volunteer Staff for the

FRUIT OF LABOR WORLD CULTURAL CENTER

www.fruitoflabor.org

*TRIANGLE WEEKY INDY newspaper's 

Best Kept Secret FINALIST

Our Community opened the

first day of Kwanzaa on Monday,

December 26th, 2022: Ali in the drumming workshop on 1st day of Kwanzaa was learning about African drumming...

UNITY IN THE GROUP, FAMILY, COMMUNITY, AND OUR PEOPLES NATION

FOLWCC starts its Financial Health Workshop in January.

Check out the January 2023 Calendar of Events below!

What is your financial health like? Assessment? What are your specific goals?

Strategy? What is your plan of action?

How do you make economic choices?

How do you decide what to spend, what paid jobs to take, whether to invest, what to save, what to give away, what taxes (if any) to pay, and other economic choices?

Do you make most such decisions alone? With a spouse or partner? As part of a religious congregation? As part of a non-religious collective of mutual reflection and accountability?

Does some other entity (for example parent, spouse, partner, employer, prison, school, care facility, or government) make some economic decisions for you?

What assumptions, attitudes, customs, habits, laws, and public policies influence how your choices happen?

Who benefits from the current way your economic choices happen? Who suffers?

What do you like about how your economic choices happen? Dislike?

Who might share some of your likes and dislikes about the current way economic decisions happen?

What changes, if any, do you want to make in how your economic decisions happen? Who might agree with you? Why? Disagree? Why?

What smallest next action might you take to improve how your economic decisions happen? When will you do it?

January 2023 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Sunday, January 8, 11:00 AM-3:00 PM – Monthly "Only on Sunday Brunch & Music Sessions" planning & proposals; enjoy breaking bread, planning these networking sessions, and sharing in community good news with area activists, artists, small business owners, students, labor leaders, educators, environmentalists, and community members. BRING MASKS... Let's propose/plan how YOU can also enjoy the talents of local musicians/ cultural artists/filmmakers. RSVP to (919) 876-7187 (leave a phone number, name, and message) or email us at Fruitoflaborwcc@netscape.com.

Sunday, January 15, 2:30-4:00 PM; Celebrating M.L. King Holiday with a Community Forum, music, food, and discussion on “The King They Don’t Want You to Know”; YOU MUST RSVP ...Wear Masks ...***Free***

Sunday, January 15, 6:30-8:30 PM; African Economic Club of Africa Group Gathering..for more info Jamilah Humphrey at economicclubofafrica@gmail.com.

Friday, January 20, 9:00 – 12:00 PM; NC Environmental Justice Network BOD meeting (closed)

Friday, January 20, 6:00 – 10:00 PM; Monthly Family Game Night & Movie; Bring your family and meet neighbors while playing various board games & card games, social justice trivia & discussion; movie starts at 8:30 PM. Free. Donations are gladly accepted. MUST RSVP...BRING YOUR MASK! We’ll all chip in for the food. 

Saturday, January 21, 9:30-10:30 AM; Workin’ It Out – a Free Total Body Community Workout Class; Stretching, toning, aerobic – we’ve got it all for participants who are beginners, may have limitations, or are advanced. Plus, we'll have a 10-minute "Livin' More than Just Enough" Health talks about overcoming disparities and healthcare access in our communities. So, come out, bring your towel and be ready to get on the road to better fitness and to building healthier lifestyles in Black and Brown communities. Water and healthy snacks will be available. RSVP to Nathanette at (919) 876-7187 or nlmayo5@yahoo.com.

Saturday, January 21, 11:00 AM-1:00 PM; Financial Health Workshop Series – Session 1; Learn about methods for home/ business property/ real estate investments with little or no money down. RESERVE YOUR SEAT NOW! Must rsvp/ wear your masks. Email Angaza at Fruitoflaborwcc@netscape.com.

Sunday, January 22, 2:00-5:00 PM; National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL) meeting and discussion on “What Is Black Liberation”. WEAR MASKS For more info, contact Gregg Moss at 704-773-7388.

Sunday, January 22, 4:00-6:00 PM; Black Workers for Justice Women’s Commission Working Group along with the Fruit of Labor World Cultural Cinema hosts a viewing of the film: “The Rape of Recy Taylor”. It will be a hybrid event of online viewing and in-person with masks at the Fruit of Labor World Cultural Center. Call or text Wille Roberts at (252) 640-0944 for more information and to register.

This month, we're sharing our lists of the best Fruit of Labor Singing Ensemble music album of 2022.....Please check out your favorite single on our

STATE OF EMERGENCY album produced by Broken Wings Music Group.

NPR

More than any other time we can recall, we as "social movement and conscious cultural worker artists "are aware of the critical crisis and time working and oppressed people have been in... and it's getting worse!  For the FRUIT OF LABOR SINGING ENSEMBLE AND THE MOVEMENT ORGANIZATIONS our anchor members have been active members in, we are trying to engage YOU in summing up 2022.

Which of the singles on our award-winning album " STATE OF EMERGENCY" do you feel best speaks to the challenges ahead? Please share your thoughts.

TRIBUTE

The transitioning/passing of Charlene Mitchell

I was highly honored to have met our sister comrade while a Rutgers Univ. Law/ Student Summer Intern in Raleigh, NC in 1978 at the Commission For Racial Justice office. The work and leadership of Sister Mitchell and CFRJ in the Charlotte 3/Wilmington 10 cases were inspiring.  

Due to my long youthful history and legal fight in the early 1970s, as an I.B.E.W. Local 3 apprentice worker, Jim Haughton's militant "Harlem Fight Back" organization and A Phillip Randolph/Bayard Rustin, Ernie Green's R.T.P. Inc staffer fighting racist discrimination and repression in New York City and the nation's CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY, I saw a connection and became interested in the repression and jailing of these NC young organizers.

 The opportunity arose and I was recruited by NCBL Brother Comrade Irv Joyner to join this awesome "Rutgers Law Student Mobilization Project" to support the liberation of Charlotte 3 and Wilmington 10 from the government's repression.

I recall...CFRJ Director Rev. Leon White, staffer/para-legal /friend Jim Grant

(Charlotte 3) and NCBL/ CFRJ Irv Joyner were all discussing with our beloved Sister Comrade Charlene Mitchell the importance of the political role of the National Alliance Against Racist& Political Repression.

She was a brilliant and powerful leader that informed and inspired even greater political consciousness and engagement of many.

Let's all stay the course of our beloved comrade... stand even stronger, as we raise up against the current rising tide of repression and reaction.

Salute our inspiring freedom fighter.

PRESENTE!!!

Elder Angaza Sababu Laughinghouse

Kwanzaa Celebration Music 2022

"Ancestor Spirits and Libation"